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Report on the 
St. Louis Workhouse 



Civic League 

September 1911 





i 
























FOREWORD. 




The following is an abstract of an elaborate report on the St. Louis Work- 
house made by the Social Service Committee of the League, Mr. E. M. Grossman, 
Chairman. The report was drawn up by a sub-committee consisting of Mr. Gross- 
man, Rev. Geo. R. Dodson, Miss Mary E. Bulkley, Mr. Hugh M. Fullerton and 
Roger N. Baldwin. The report has the approval of the entire committee and of 
the Executive Board of the League. 

The complete report, which covers some forty typewritten pages, is not print¬ 
ed, chiefly because a large part of the material would not be of general public 
interest. The League has on file at the office, however, a number of these type¬ 
written copies, which are available for the use of any member of the League who 
may care to read it in full. The essential points are all brought out in this 
abstract. 

The report was compiled from information secured by members of the com¬ 
mittee through a personal investigation. Mr. Fullerton was sent, at the expense 
of the League, to Chicago and Cleveland for the purpose of making an exact 
inquiry in those cities. The entire report has been read and verified by both the 
former and present superintendents of the Workhouse, the Mayor’s Secretary and 
other municipal officials connected with the administration of the Workhouse and 
the police courts. We are confident, therefore, that the facts as stated are essen¬ 
tially accurate. 

It should be emphasized that the unfortunate conditions in our care of offend¬ 
ers committed to the Workhouse are not due to negligence or poor administra¬ 
tion. They are the faults of a system, as set forth so ably in the report 
quoted from the Russdll Sage Foundation publication. Our object will be 
accomplished if this report, in calling attention to the system, brings about action 
by the Municipal Assembly looking to a just solution of the present evils. 


EXECUTIVE BOARD, 

Saunders Norvell, President. 


Roger N. Baldwin, Secretary. 



REPORT ON THE ST. LOUIS WORKHOUSE. 


I. HISTORICAL: 

1 . Origin and Early History: 

The city workhouse was established by an ordinance passed July 28, 1841. 

The present Workhouse on Broadway and Meramec street, fronting on the 
bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and extending down to the water’s edge, 
was established in 1853. The institution was built by prison labor, of rock quar¬ 
ried on the ground. Tveo of the three buildings then built are still in use. The 
first cell-house (now being remodeled) is the present women’s quarters. ' 

2. The Law: 

The Charter provides that the city may purchase and hold property for a 
workhouse, either within or without the city limits, and may issue bonds for its 
construction. Regarding commitments and treatment of prisoners in the institu¬ 
tion the Charter says: 

“Any offender who shall neglect, or refuse to pay any fine, penalty and costs 
that may have been imposed upon him or her, shall be committed to the work- 
house, or, in case of women, in such other place as for them may be provided, 
until such fine, penalty, and costs be fully paid: provided, that no such imprison¬ 
ment shall exceed six months for any one offense. Every person so committed 
to the workhouse, or such other place aforesaid, shall be required to work for the 
city, at such labor as his or her health and strength will permit, within or without 
said workhouse or other place, not exceeding ten hours each working day; and 
for such work the person so employed shall be allowed, exclusive of his or her 
board, fifty cents per day for each day’s work, on account of said fine and costs.” 

The Charter also provides that the Superintendent shall be appointed by the 
Mayor for a term of four years, subject to approval by the Council. All other 
provisions affecting the workhouse are matters of ordinance regulation. 

What Courts Commit: 

The workhouse receives prisoners from three sets of courts—the police 
courts, which commit offenders who are unable to pay their fines ; the two divisions 
of the Court of Criminal Correction and the three criminal divisions of the Cir¬ 
cuit Court. No commitment from the criminal courts may exceed one year on 
any one charge, and none from a police court may exceed six months. The com¬ 
mitments from the criminal courts are sentences for offenses against the law, both 
in misdemeanor and felony cases. The police judges, however, have no authority 
to sentence a man direct to the -workhouse. The commitments from the police 
courts come through the quasi-criminal nature of police court procedure, by which 
offenders against city ordinances are virtually imprisoned for debt —that is, for 
inability to pay the city the amount owed as a fine. 


2 


The: System Unjust: 

This system of commitment from the various courts under really different 
theories, results in a fundamental practical difficulty in dealing with the problem 
of the workhouse as a social institution, because the system oftentimes frees the 
habitual offender who has money, or friends with money to pay fines, while those 
too poor to pay are compelled to serve time. Many are committed from whom 
society does not need protection, and who are in no sense criminal, and many 
escape commitment who need the corrective influence of imprisonment. 

The Charter provides that the rate of payment for a man’s work in the Work- 
house working out a fine shall be computed at fifty cents per day, Sundays and 
holidays excluded. The Mayor has absolute power of parole over police-court 
offenders through the remission of fines by the exercise of executive clemency. 

3. Recent History and Tendencies: 

The Workhouse has in the past been very badly managed and subject to all 
kinds of political and personal influence, both in its management and in the admis¬ 
sion and discharge of its inmates. The last few years the institution has mark¬ 
edly improved and has been conducted about as well as could be expected with 
its faulty equipment and overcrowded condition. 

4. Financial: 

The cost of the workhouse has varied very largely, in some years it being an 
expense to the city and in other years returning a profit on the work done by pris¬ 
oners. In 1905-06, for instance, there was an excess of $8,380.23, the expenses 
having been $70,347.44 and the receipts $78,727.67, as follows: 


Value of products and labor furnished city departments . $70,615.42 

Fines received by the Superintendent ... 8,112.25 


$78,727.67 

Properly speaking, the fines should not be included in the account, so that the 
excess of earnings over expenditures was only about $300. 

In 1908-09 the excess of earnings over expenditures was about $3,000.00, the 
total expenditures being $91,894 and the value of the products and labor 
$94,909.50. 

During the other years since 1905 the workhouse has not been on a paying 
basis, the deficit in 1907-08 running as high as $15,666.75. 

If the amount of fines, which really should not be credited to earnings, is 
deducted, the excess of expenditures over earnings in that year was almost 
$24,000. 

TI. STUDY OF THE WORKHOUSE POPULATION: 

In the ten years ending April 1, 1910, 31,354 commitments were made to the 
Workhouse, an average of 3,135 a year. The number of commitments each year 
increased from 2,095 in 1901 to 3,724 in 1907, the highest number in any one year. 

3 " 





Since 1907 the commitments each year have numbered—3,429 in 1908, 3,493 in 
1909 and 3,025 in 1910. 

1 hese figures indicate pretty clearly the business of the courts in relation to 
the Workhouse, but they do not indicate clearly the administrative problems of 
the Workhouse, which are best indicated by the figures of its daily population. 
Remembering that the normal capacity of the Workhouse is 400 persons, it is 
somewhat disturbing to know that the daily average which wets 334 in 1901 , 
increased to 693 in 1908 . The maximum daily population has been as high as 900 . 
During 1909 the average dropped to 528, still overcrowding the quarters. The 
maximum daily population during 1910 was 587 on April 11th; the minimum, 359, 
■on November 14th. 

It is interesting in this connection to know that during this period of increase 
in the average daily population, the average daily number of women has either 
remained practically the same or has slightly decreased. 

The explanation of the increase in the daily average lies in the increase in the 
average term of commitment. The average length of each commitment in 1901 
was only forty-nine days, while it was seventy-nine days in 1909 . This is due in 
part, at least, to stiffer fines and fewer paroles. 

Records Very Scant: 

The records of the Workhouse, as of the police courts, are extremely scant, 
covering only the legal necessities of the cases. Practically no information can 
be obtained regarding the social factors, such as ages, previous commitments, 
marital state, resident or transient, etc. No really comprehensive study can be 
made nor any really scientific remedies offered until these social facts are recorded 
and carefully studied. 

Some facts of value, however, can be gained from the scant records kept .and 
from certain estimates more or less carefully made by the Workhouse authorities. 

Number and Character of Commitments: 

It appears that during the period between April, 1909, and April, 1910, 3,025 
commitments were made to the institution; 625, or 20.6% were women; 330 or 
practically 10 % were boys or girls betzveen the ages of sixteen and tzventy years 
(236 boys and 34 girls). 

It is interesting to note that 254 persons over fifty years of age were com¬ 
mitted, who are said by the authorities to be almost exclusively habitual drunk¬ 
ards, practically all of whom have been committed time and again. The Work- 
house authorities estimate that practically 75 % of the population at any given time 
is composed of persons serving a second term or more in the institution. The 
same proportion is probably true of the total commitments for any one year. 

One woman zvas pointed out as having served eighteen of the last thirty years 
of her life in the Workhouse. She has been arrested on an average of six times 
a year for thirty years. Former Superintendent Dawson remembers arresting 
her when he was a patrolman on the police force in 1883. She was a police char¬ 
acter then. Her sentences have ranged from twelve days to four months, all the 


4 


result of police court fines. That and similar cases are a living indictment of the 
ineffectiveness of our present system of correcting minor crimes. 

III. THE CARE AND CORRECTION OF WORKHOUSE PRISONERS: 

General Statement: 

An elaborate study was made by the Committee concerning the care of pris¬ 
oners—their grouping, daily schedule, eating and sleeping arrangements and other 
matters connected with their daily life. At the time of the investigation in the 
spring of 1910, the conditions were found to be pretty bad, the buildings being 
overcrowded, overrun with vermin, and the food served being of an inferior qual¬ 
ity and poory adapted to the work which the prisoners are called upon to do. 

Since that time, however, the Board of Public Improvements has made elab¬ 
orate plans for the reconstruction of a large portion of the Workhouse, which will 
do away largely with the evils at that time found. For that reason, a description 
of the living conditions of the prisoners is omitted. 

Industrial Facilities : 

When a man is committed to the institution he is asked on entrance as to his 
occupation. Since most (95%) are unskilled laborers, they are at once sent to 
the quarry, where a large force of men are kept constantly at work quarrying 
and breaking rock. The skilled workmen are used in construction and repair 
work, and in the blacksmith and carpenter shops. A number of the men are 
detailed to the lighter work about the institution, in the stable, garden and around 
the yard. Such men are usually the short-term men, who are given this kind of 
work largely because of the fact that the shortness of their sentences inclines 
them less toward escaping. 

The men who are physically weak are detailed to help in the kitchen and din¬ 
ing room. A number of the older and more decrepit men are sent to work in the 
laundry, cleaning floors, etc. The construction and repair work is largely done 
by the prisoners, an engine house being recently built by them and the old cell- 
house being entirely remodeled by prison labor. There are always a certain num¬ 
ber of trusties in the institution, and they are assigned to do the gardening around 
the outside of the workhouse walls, both in the vegetable garden and on the lawns 
and flower beds. 

The Difficulty of Proper Employment: 

It is always a problem to find work enough for the men to do. A rainy day 
is a particularly difficult problem. The men at the quarry cannot be pushed at 
their work, because all t>f -the rock which is used on the streets and at the water 
works could not be used by the city if the men were pushed. When on a rainy 
day these men are thrown out of zvork in the quarry there is nothing for them to 
do but to sit about their cells in idleness. 

The women are employed entirely indoors. One-half of them work in the 
sewing-room mending and making garments for the institution. A number of 
them do the cleaning of the cell-houses and make the beds. Others are at work 
in the laundry, which washes all the clothing and bedding for the institution. A 
few women are detailed to the kitchen and dining-room. 


5 


Correction and Reformation : 

The entire aspect of the Workhouse routine is one of passive care. Its influ¬ 
ence on prisoners, so far as any active effort towards reformation is concerned, is 
purely negative. The only reformatory influence is that which may be derived 
from incarceration and the lack of liberty. A few skilled men in the shops have 
the supervision of a foreman, but it cannot be said that their morals or habits are 
thereby improved. 

The prisoners who misbehave or prove to be incorrigible are punished by a 
restriction in diet, or by imprisonment in a dungeon. The usual method of pun¬ 
ishment at the Workhouse is incarceration in the dungeon, commonly known 
as the “bull pen.” There are three of these in the institution—two for men and 
one for women. One of them was recently constructed, outside the chapel, in the 
basement of the new cell-house. They are devoid of furniture or fittings of any 
kind, are dark, and the one in the women’s quarters is without ventilation save for 
one small opening. Prisoners punished by confinement in the dungeon are fed on 
bread and water only. 

The dungeons are used frequently, being the chief means of discipline in the 
institution. The length of stay varies from a few hours to as long, in some ca^es, 
as two weeks. One prisoner told the story of being shut up in a dungeon in com¬ 
pany with a crazy man, who behaved so violently that he was constantly in fear 
of his life. The Committee has no means of verifying the truth of such a state¬ 
ment. 

As in all penal institutions it is difficult to prevent corruption among the 
attendants. Prisoners are able to bribe them to bring in drugs, such as opium, 
cocaine, etc., and for other favors which can be had for money. The custom of 
permitting prisoners to order food and tobacco from the outside, with money 
given them by friends or relatives, is an incentive to this kind of traffic. The 
poor prisoner is also put at a disadvantage in getting food, etc., with those for¬ 
tunate enough to have a little money. * 

Workhouse Does Not Reform : 

It should be pointed out that there is no attempt made in the slightest degree 
to exert any reformatory influence on the Workhouse prisoner. There is no study 
of the needs of the individual, and such an insufficient variety of occupation that 
it is only roughly adapted to any one. The treatment of the population is entirely 
collective and entirely negative. 

IV. THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS. 

The best method of seeing just what process secures release is to examine a 
group in a given year. In 1910, 3,108 prisoners were released from the institu¬ 
tion ; 1,946, or 63%, were released on the expiration of the sentence of the Crim¬ 
inal Court, or by working out the fine imposed by the Police Court at the rate of 
50 cents a day; 547, or 17%, finally managed to summon friends to their aid, who 
paid their fines and thus secured their releases. Therefore, a total of 2,493 out of 
3,108 , or 80 %, left the institution free of any further control or supervision. 

One hundred and thirty-five, or 4% of the total, were released on appeal, ha- 


G 


beas corpus or commuted sentence—that is, by an order of court, and 21 made their 
way out by being transferred to the jail, by death, or by escape, 14 finding their way 
out by the latter means. Four hundred and fifty-nine, or 15% of the total, were 
paroled either by the Mayor (who has jurisdiction over Police Court cases alone), 
by the Governor, or by the judges of the criminal courts which committed them. 

In the 459 cases paroled, the paroling power had the right of supervision of 
the life and conduct of every prisoner for a certain length of time after his re¬ 
lease. This power was not exercised to any effective degree by the criminal 
courts, who have no practical means of knowing how paroled prisoners fare, un¬ 
less by chance they are brought back into the court charged with a new offense. 
If they report to court the Judge has only their own word as to their habits and 
behavior. 

Interest of the Mayors Office in the Work: 

The Mayor’s office, through the Mayor’s Secretary, has been anxious to do 
everything possible to follow up the men paroled through that office. The Mayor’s 
Secretary has interested himself personally in most of the cases, and the police 
sergeant assigned to the Mayor’s office also undertakes a portion of that work. 
The cases under supervision of the Mayor’s office numbered fifteen on January 1, 
1911. No men under supervision of the Mayor were reported to the courts for 
violating their paroles, because the validity of such action is doubtful. 

The Mayor’s office is very careful in considering applications for parole , re¬ 
fusing a much larger number than it grants. The causes for granting a parole 
usually are either removal from the city to live in a more favorable environment, 
destitution of the prisoner’s family, exceptional record in the Workhouse, or some 
error or injustice found in the police court trial. The care of these paroled pris¬ 
oners is a considerable burden on the Mayors office and not a desirable function 
for that office to perform. The success of the work depends entirely upon the 
personal interest of the Mayor, or the Mayor’s Secretary, and it is not related 
intimately enough to the general system of the care of adult offenders. 

During the year 1910 the Mayor practically paroled 357 prisoners by remit¬ 
ting their fines. The following is a list of offenses for which these paroled pris¬ 


oners were committed by the police courts: 

Disturbing the peace..... 210 

Begging ........ 16 

Drunk on the street... lg 

Exposing the person..... 16 

Inmates or keepers of bawdy houses... 19 

Vagrancy. ‘ .... 10 

Miscellaneous... 


357 

Of these 357 paroles practically po% of them were granted because of the 
needs of the prisoner’s family. In practically all the cases the consent of the 
complaining witness was required before a parole was granted. Fifty prisoners 
were paroled largely on account of their good record in the Workhouse, these pa¬ 
roles being granted chiefly at Thanksgiving and Christmas. 


7 










V. COMPARISON WITH SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS IN OTHER CITIES: 


The: Workhouse a Nondescript Institution: 

A general statement of the place of the Workhouse in the American prison 
and reformatory system is well given by Mr. Warren F. Spalding, Secretary of 
the Massachusetts Prison Association, in a volume entitled “Penal and Reforma¬ 
tory Institutions,” published by the Russell Sage Foundation. Mr. Spalding says: 

“The American workhouse is a nondescript institution. If classified on the 
basis of the construction of its buildings, it is a prison; if its inmates are con¬ 
sidered, it is related to the pauper institutions, for a large percentage of them are 
dependents; if the mental and physical condition of its inmates is considered, the 
workhouse belongs partly among the institutions for defectives who need restraint 
and hospital treatment. For dealing properly with its inmates on the basis of 
their character, it should be a reformatory. The inmates come through the 
courts, but though their acts, technically, are crimes, in most cases they are com¬ 
mitted for being what they are ( drunkards, vagrants, idle and disorderly, tramps; 
etc.), rather than for criminal deeds. 

Does More Harm Than Good: 

“The principal criticism of the workhouse must be of its system. If prop¬ 
erly used, it might be of great value, but as it is, it does more harm than good. The 
records of every workhouse show that fully one-half of those committed have 
served previous sentences in the same institution, many of them twenty, fifty, a 
hundred. There is absolutely nothing in the average workhouse which has as its 
purpose the reformation of its inmates. The promiscuous association of all classes 
of prisoners tends to make them zvorse. The moral atmosphere should be peni¬ 
tential ; frequently it is pestilential.” 

Unfairness of the System : 

* “The most conspicuous unfairness of this system is found in the imprison¬ 
ment of men for the non-payment of fines. In imposing a fine, instead of a term 
sentence, the court says that the offender ought not to be sent to prison. But in 
spite of that, he is committed, not because the court thought that a proper pun¬ 
ishment, but because he is too poor to pay his debt to the state at a moment’s no¬ 
tice. The private citizen can no longer collect his debts by imprisoning his 
debtor, but the state does it, compels him to associate with the worst of men, and 
turns him out with the stigma of ‘jail-bird.’ 

“If imprisonment were necessary it might be condoned, but it has been proved 
that by putting a man on probation, giving him time to earn and pay his fine, the 
court gets far more money than the prison collects. The public now pays for his 
commitment: supports the prisoner for a time, and does not get the fine. The 
prisoner is also prevented from working and supporting his family. The system 
discriminates between the well-to-do and the poor. The former escapes impris¬ 
onment by the payment of a fezv dollars; the latter is punished for being poor.” 

Fails in Dealing With Drunkenness and Vagrancy: 

The workhouse has failed conspicuously in dealing with drunkenness and 
vagrancy. The tramp is taken out of the community for a short time, but noth- 


8 


in S i s done to eradicate the disposition to live by his wits. At the end of a definite 
period, fixed beforehand, he returns to the world, unchanged, often without a 
penny, or a home, or work, to resume his old life. For other misdemeanants the 
workhouse is simply a place of temporary detention.” 

Need of Classification : 

This population is being rapidly classified in our best workhouses elsewhere— 
here and abroad—and treated according to the needs of each class and of each 
individual. For instance, the habitual drunkards who form a very large portion, 
and who are all physical wrecks, are removed almost entirely from workhouse 
surroundings and put to farm or outdoor work in order to build up their bodies. 
With physical energy and a healthy body they will be better able to resume a nor¬ 
mal course of life. Cleveland and Kansas City have both established municipal 
farms for this group. 

Treatment of the Youth : 

It is a most unwholesome and unpromising procedure to compel the younger 
prisoners to associate so intimately with vicious and degenerate adults, as do the 
boys and girls under twenty in the St. Louis Workhouse. In other cities where 
this problem has been worked out, such young persons have been either com¬ 
mitted to reformatories—where they usually belong—or have been separated and 
given appropriate training in the local houses of correction. 

Treatment of Tramps: 

With the group of transient criminals, who are to be placed often under the 
head of tramps, the farm plan often builds them up physically, and under a care¬ 
ful parole system they are established in steadier ways of life. It is difficult, how¬ 
ever, to accomplish much with the tramp, although the farm and labor colonies 
of the east and Europe have come as near solving the problem as any method. 

Need of Outdoor Work: 

-A careful examination of any workhouse population will show that a very 
large proportion of all offenders of all groups are much below par physically. This 
condition in itself is an indication that the open air, outdoor method will assist 
materially in bringing them back to a normal life. Even in the case of women, 
outdoor farm life is an admirable remedy. It is tried with great success at the 
New York State Reformatory at Bedford, and has been tried with success for 
women inebriates in England. 

Cleveland's' Experience : 

The report of the Cleveland Board of Public Service (1909), which has 
developed a remarkably successful system, says: 

“The fundamental thing in this movement is the attitude of friendship to the 
men in trouble , the giving to them the opportunity to come back to themselves and 
the normal life. In one of the towers there are to be three isolated rooms, strong, 
White and full of light, sunshine and fresh air. They are to be used as ‘dun¬ 
geons,’ or as we prefer to call them, the rooms of the ‘Thinking Tower.’ The un¬ 
ruly will be given a bath, clean clothes, and a flood of light and air. 


9 


“Our experience with prisoners at the Farm gives us great confidence in the 
successful working out of our plan. The latest government statistics show that 
prison labor is most effective in such employment. It is far better for the prison¬ 
ers and better for the public. The prisoners can do the heavier and rougher work 
of the farm, and this is the basis for the lighter, finer work which can be done by 
the old men of the Colony (almshouse).” 

Cleveland's Parole System : 

In regard to parole the report says: 

“Some mistakes have been made, but the method of paroling is increasingly 
efficient, and in many cases brings a new hope and better life. There has been 
improvement and development in the use of our system of paroling prisoners.” 

“In the cases of neglect of families , our parole system has been especially 
effective, the paroles having been made on the condition that the wages should be 
turned over to the family. When this method succeeds, it is certainly better than 
keeping the men locked up in prison; better for the men, better for their families 
and better for society.” 

“The percentage of those who are returned to the House of Correction has 
decreased, and more and better reports have been sent in from our paroled pris¬ 
oners. Efforts have been made to secure positions, as a good opportunity to earn 
a living is one of the greatest preventives of crime” 

Kansas City's Successful Efforts: 

Kansas City has come to the forefront of American cities in dealing with 
adult offenders. A recent report of the Secretary of the Board of Pardons and 
Paroles says: 

“In the first place, let me call your attention to the fact that one-third of all 
the men committed to the workhouse have been paroled. This is a large per cent. 
The inmates of the workhouse are not a selected class, such as are usually sen¬ 
tenced to reformatories. Many of them are habitual drunkards, dope fiends, de¬ 
generates or defectives or perverts, and have not the physical basis for self-control. 
Some are weak and diseased from dissipation. These cannot be paroled. The 
Board has used the power of parole liberally, and yet ninety per cent of the paroles 
have been successful, in the sense that the persons paroled have not again fallen 
under the ban of the law. The figures given by different agencies engaged in this 
line of work as to how many have violated their paroles are unreliable for pur¬ 
poses of comparison, because some do not follow up their cases closely and en¬ 
force their conditions strictly, and some do not make strict conditions to start 
with.” 

Problem of Alcoholism : 

On the subject of alcoholism, the greatest factor in petty crime, one authority 
writes: 

“The principle of probationary oversight of offenders is comparatively recent 
in application, but the results obtained in Massachusetts, New York and other 
states where the principle has had extended use, are so satisfactory that the prin¬ 
ciple may now be said to have passed the experimental stage. There is no class 


10 


of off aiders who are more in need of personal friendship, advice and co-operation 
t/ian the persons who are habitual users of alcohol. To be successful; however, 
probation must of necessity be in the hands of broad-minded, sympathetic and 
tactful persons. Even then it is not satisfactory in all cases; of habitual drunken¬ 
ness, but the plan proposed provides for severer measures where probation does 
not succeed.” 

“There is no royal road to a cure for habitual alcoholism, but the best medical 
authorities are unanimous in their belief in the farm colony treatment. The prime 
necessities in any treatment are: isolation from alcohol for a continuous period 
of time, abundance of light and fresh air, therapeutic baths, and as much outdoor 
work as the patient is physically capable of, together with the strong personal 
influence of individuals who are recognized by the patients as definitely interested 
in their improvement.” 

VI. NEEDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: 

A general statement of the needs of the present workhouse system is admira¬ 
bly given by Mr. Warren F. Spalding, Secretary of the Massachusetts Prison 
Association, in the Russell Sage Foundation publication, “Penal and Reformatory 
Institutions.” Mr. Spalding says : 

Need of Probation : 

“The present system can be improved by a probation system which will pro- 
' vide for all who can be restored without imprisonment. Custodial supervision 
secures better results than the workhouse. For those who must be imprisoned, 
we need the indeterminate sentence. Why should the offender be discharged 
regardless of his character? Why should he serve ten sentences of one month 
each in a year, instead of one sentence of ten months? Many of these men (and 
women) will never be fit for self-support. Many are mentally defective. Why 
should they be at large ? Why should they be released without homes, without 
work, and without oversight? It will cost money to fit them to earn a living, to< 
find work for them, and to supervise them, but these things add little to the total 
crime bill. When we are spending so much, with almost no good result, why not 
add a little more, and get better returns for the money spent? 

“The workhouse should be upon a farm. Most of the inmates are unskilled, 
but waste land can be reclaimed by them. It is not necessary to follow county 
lines. Districts, composed of several counties, can be arranged to great advan¬ 
tage. If the expense can be borne by the state, so much the better. The system 
should be reformatory; saving men is saving money. 

Constructive Reformatory Work : 

“The man who enters the workhouse should be made to feel that he is expect¬ 
ed to abandon his old life, and to enter a new one. A prisoner adopts the institu¬ 
tion estimate of himself. If he is treated as an incorrigible, he considers himself 
one. If he is made to feel that he is thought to be reformable, he accepts that 
estimate, and if the system aims at reformation, he is likely to respond. What¬ 
ever arouses and stimulates his self-respect should be used—schools, good lit¬ 
erature, industrial training, etc. His keepers should* be men who inspire his 


11 


respect. He should be released only when fit; he should be placed in the com¬ 
munity, and aided to get upon his feet. And he should be supervised until restora¬ 
tion seems complete. Changes along these lines will transform the workhouse 
from a temporary halting-place between two crimes to a place of permanent 
improvement and restoration.” 

Relation Between the Courts and the Workhouse: 

It is impossible to recommend changes in the workhouse without taking into 
account its relation to the courts which send it its inmates. There is no question 
but that a large number of the inmates of the institution, particularly first offend¬ 
ers and boys and girls under twenty, could be saved from commitment by an 
efficient system of investigation and parole in the trial courts. There is also no 
doubt but that the present system of parole through the Mayor’s office could be 
improved with an official who could give his whole time to it. 

The problem of the relation of the courts to the workhouse and to parole is 
such a large one that your Committee recommends: 

1. A. Board of Parole: 

The establishment by ordinance of a Board to be called, if so determined, 
“Board of Parole,” with the following functions: 

1. The authority exercised by the Mayor under the Charter of parole of 
prisoners committed to the workhouse by the police courts. 

2. Of recommending to the judge of criminal courts the parole of prisoners 
committed by those courts to the workhouse. 

3. The preliminary investigation of all police court cases with parole im¬ 
mediately granted in such cases as seem to merit it. In such a system parole after 
conviction would amount virtually to probation as practiced in juvenile courts 
here and adult courts elsewhere. Under such a system fines could be paid in 
installments, men could be kept track of, work found for them and various other 
remedies adopted for their welfare. 

In brief such a Board would have entire charge of the admission to and re¬ 
leases from the workhouse and in relation to the criminal courts would be as usef ul 
as the criminal courts desire to make it. 

In addition, until state legislation can be secured revising the police court 
system, temporary measures can be adopted under authority of ordinance, bv 
which the judges of police courts may have the power, first, of paroling convicted 
persons, and, second, of giving habitual drunkards, drug fiends and like characters 
an opportunity of undergoing medical treatment on an indeterminate basis. 

2. Changes in the Institution: 

The present authorities, the Superintendent of the Workhouse and the Com¬ 
missioners on Penal and Charitable Institutions, need practically no legislation for 
developing the workhouse as an institution. We beg to suggest to them the fol¬ 
lowing changes which, in the opinion of this Committee, can be made with little 
additional expense and which will greatly increase the efficiency of the present 
institution. 


12 


The Committee recognizes that similar recommendations have been made by 
the Superintendent and others, although there has been no comprehensive statement 
of the general needs of the institution. There have doubtless been many difficul¬ 
ties in carrying out these recommendations and the Committee stands ready to 
lend the authorities all possible assistance. 

Recommendations : 

1. Regarding the matter of sanitation and cleanliness it is possible, by a 
special effort, if necessary under the Board of Health, to minimise the evil of 
vermin in the institution. The bedding should be and can be cleaner and the cells 
made more liveable. 

2. A system of cooking and serving meals under the guidance of an experi¬ 
enced cook should be worked out on a scientific basis in relation to the cost of 
foods and the nourishment to be derived from them in order that a plain, whole¬ 
some diet may be given the inmates that they may better do the work of the in ¬ 
stitution. 

3. The dungeons should he entirely done azvay with. If separate confinement 
is necessary it is just as easy to get results in a light, airy and sanitary room as it is 
in an unhealthful dungeon. A dungeon is a relic of the old method of inquisitorial 
torture for inspiring goodness. A system of rewards would be even more effective 
for discipline than a system of punishment. On these points we refer the authori¬ 
ties to the experience of Cleveland and Kansas City where friendship and a “square 
deal’* have taken the place of the old methods of punishment and repression. 

4. The industries at the workhouse can be more varied as they have been in 
the Chicago House of Correction and these industries can be adapted to the various 
needs of the city institution so that the products manufactured will be immediately 
useful to the city. This is not only an economical method but will guarantee con¬ 
stant employment to the inmates of the workhouse with no such periods of idleness 
as now occur in bad weather. 

5. Even under the short commitments some constructive attempt can he 
made to interest the prisoners in the decencies of life. Without much additional 
expense a night school could be established, possibly through the Board of Educa¬ 
tion, on payment of a nominal fee as in the public evening schools, and a library 
or system of circulating books can be installed by the Public Library without ex¬ 
pense. Both a library and an evening school are recommended by the Superin¬ 
tendent in his report to the Mayor for 1908-09. 

6. With competent investigation before admission to the 'Workhouse and 
with a system of keeping the social facts regarding prisoners, more attention can 
he given to segregation and individual treatment. This problem is, of course, 
difficult. With a full knowledge of a man’s habits and character the men and 
women can be grouped, especially in their cells, according to their best interests. 

7. The Institution will he much improved by the addition of hospital faciU 
ities. On this point the Superintendent in his report for 1908-09 said, “The pres^ 
ent over-crowded condition of the Institution does not permit the establishment 
,)f a hospital although it is one of our greatest necessities. At present we average 
about twelve patients at the City Hospital all the time. Prisoners who are taken 


13 


suddenly and violently ill must be transferred from the comfortable indoors, no 
matter what the climatic conditions might be, and then removed in an ambulance 
to the City Hospital, a distance of 25 blocks. We have no department for the 
•observation of the epileptic or insane prisoners, who are from time to time com- 
mitted to our care. We should have an eye and ear clinic and a well-equipped 
dispensary.” 

3. Future Arrangements: 

The Whole: System Wrong: 

Your Committee regards our whole system of treating adult offenders as at 
variance with rational methods of handling them as a social problem. The whole 
system of fines in our police courts is wrong and unjust, but, of course, it will 
necessitate a change in our state laws and charter to give the court discretion in 
disposing of such cases. The court should be able to say whether a man should 
be confined, discharged or paroled. At present there is no choice save between 
a fine and a discharge, the injustice of the system of fines having been already 
shown in this report. 

So far as practicable the indeterminate sentence should prevail so that, for 
instance, an alcoholic or drug fiend might be kept in the institution indefinitely 
until the community could be assured of his practical cure. 

For these remedies, state legislation, now in preparation, is necessary. 

Necessity of a Work-Farm : 

Whatever improvements are made in the institution as it exists to-day, the 
Committee wants to point out emphatically that as at present situated the institu¬ 
tion even with all these proposed improvements, cannot accomplish its fundamental 
purpose of reclaiming the men and women committed to it. For that purpose 
it is essential that the institution, or a department of it, at least, should be located 
on a farm and that the inmates should have an opportunity for out-of-door work. 
We urge that the City fall in line with this tendency of international scope and 
include in the next bond issue a sum for the establishment of a work-farm. 

Respectfully submitted, 

SOCIAL SERVICE COMMITTEE, 

E M. Grossman, Chairman 
C. J. KehoE, Vice-Chairman 
Mary E. Bulkley 
Rev. Geo. R. Dodson 
Francis G. Eaton 
H. M. Fullerton 
Mrs. J. E. Leith 
Mrs. Philip N. Moore 
Cjiarlotte Rumbold 
E. J. Russell 


14 

























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